Community investment and well-being comprise the focus of Rhonda's research and outreach activities. As a professor in the School of Community Resources & Development at Arizona State University, Rhonda works with faculty, staff, students and organizations to expand the reach of community-based education and research initiatives for enhancing quality of life. Her focus is using community indicator and evaluation systems for monitoring progress towards community development and economic development revitalization goals. Current indicator work includes serving on the Resource Team for the Sustainability Scorecard for Arizona project, serving as the coordinator for the Culture and Community section, Arizona Indicators Project, and working with the Mac21 Project (Making Arizona Competitive in the 21st Century) Arizona American Planning Association Chapter to identify critical indicators for communities and the state for fostering long-term economic viability.
Rhonda is author or editor of nine books, including Community Development Indicators Measuring Systems. Along with Joe Sirgy and Don Rathz, she is the co-editor of the Community Quality-of-Life Indicators: Best Cases series published through the International Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) and Springer. She is editor of "Community Development: Journal of the Community Development Society", published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis, as well as the new book series Community Development Research and Practice by Routledge.
